Blog 5
Blog
Published work and ephemera.
Blog 1
Living Water
In a positive sense, “Water” represents genuine spiritual knowledge about the things which affect our mental, emotional and spiritual wellbeing. When willfully applied to the way we live our lives that knowledge acts to internally cleanse and refresh our thoughts and affections. As we do so in reverence to our love for God and for the Good of others, that knowledge becomes transformed into a “Living Water” which liberates us from what would otherwise harm to our minds, hearts and souls, (as described in the story of Jacob’s Well, Genesis 29:1-3, John 4:1-14). For these reasons water is symbolically used in religious purifications through physical washings and baptisms.
Guercino (Giovanni Francesco Barbieri), Italian
Blog 2
Turning Water into Wine
Throughout the Bible the Lord freely Offers us genuine spiritual knowledge about how we may receive, retain and forever share in the Joy and Goodness of His Love for us. Once accepted He asks us to reach deeply within ourselves and apply that knowledge to each and every aspect of our lives. As we willingly make those efforts He turns that knowledge into a new spiritual understanding which is much deeper, much more rewarding and much more fulfilling than anything we could have ever brought forth on our own. The beginning of that transformation is spiritually described by His turning “Water into Wine” at the wedding Feast in Cana of Galilee.
Marriage Feast at Cana, Jesus Christ Miracle Painting, Changes Water into Wine, Bible Story Art, by Carl Bloch
Blog 3
Spiritual Conscience
Throughout the Bible the Lord is described as making His advent into our lives through our spiritual conscience. With His “still small Voice” He comes into our minds and hearts with Compassion and Humility, teaching us about the Way we must live our lives. If we are willing to listen to Him, and heed His Call, we will find that He is innocently approaching our spiritual sensibilities in a very Sure footed manner.
Zechariah, Chapter 9, verse 9;
“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: He is Just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.”
Artist; Jean-Hippolyte Flandrin, 19th-century
Blog 4
The Lord calls upon us to realize that the letter of the Word embodies the Spirit of the Word just as our physical body encompasses the spirit within our souls. And just as we are physically dead without our spirit living within us, so is the letter of the Word dead without the Spirit Living within it. It is therefore imperative for us to realize that it is the Spirit within the Word which Gives the letter of the Word its True meaning and Life, and not the other way around. Thinking otherwise leads to countless misunderstandings about the meaning and Intent of Scripture.
Isaiah, Chapter 40, verse 21;
“Have ye not known? Have ye not heard? hath it not been Told you from the Beginning? have you not understood since the foundations of the earth?”
Isaiah 40:21
Blog 5
Gaining spiritual understanding about the meaning of the Lord’s Testimony to us is life altering. It Enlightens our sense of reason while Inspiring us to develop into the people that we are capable of becoming. In the Old Testament the Truth of that understanding is described as an eternal Light placed above the alter of our lives, (Exodus 27:20-21, Isaiah 60:19-20). In the New Testament that Truth is described as “The Light of men”, (John 1:4, Revelation 22:5). Receiving that understanding gives Purpose to everything we think, feel and do in life. And so the Lord asks us trust Him, relying on what He has been teaching us since the beginning of human existence. He Promises that what He will bring forth within our minds, hearts and souls as we apply that understanding to the Way we live our lives will be nothing less than Marvelous in our eyes, (Psalm 118:23).
John, Chapter 3, verse 12;
“If I have told you about earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe if I tell you about Heavenly things?
Blog 6
Life After Death
The history of the human race is filled with individual and collective testimonies about our spiritual survival after our physical death on earth. Every civilization, old and new, large and small, and near and distant has recorded testimonies about that survival. Those testimonies are ongoing, and confirmed by many who have suffered near death experiences in this age of modern medical resuscitation. Denying all of these testimonies simply because we don’t believe them, or haven’t experienced them for ourselves, or because we have not yet been able to prove them in a physical science lab is very short sighted. Yet accepting them as true, and then ignoring their implications about the Way we must live our lives is a much more dangerous form of thinking. Taking that understanding to heart is spiritual Wisdom.
Artist; Leonardo DiVinci
Job, Chapter 32, verses 7 and 8;
“I said, Days should speak, and multitude of years should teach Wisdom.
“But there is a Spirit in man, and the Inspiration of the Almighty Giveth them understanding.”
Blog 7
Through both the Old and New Testaments the Lord teaches us about the importance of understanding the causes and effects which will determine our mental, emotional and spiritual wellbeing. He teaches us that these things apply to what is being brought forth within us in this life, and most especially what will come forth from within us in the life to come. He asks to trust in His Testimony about these things, Promising He is teaching us about things which are True and Right. He has freely Offered us this spiritual knowledge since the beginning of our existence. Nevertheless, He leaves it up us, from our own free will to have faith in His Word to us by living our lives according to the Way He is Showing us that we must. He teaches us that there is simply no other ‘way’ or ‘around’ that we can become hosts to the incomparable Blessings which He has in Store for us. He also teaches us that we can prove these things for ourselves if we honestly, sincerely and humbly try.
John 3:12
Malachi Chapter 3, verse 10;
“Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there might be meat in Mine House, and prove Me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the Windows of Heaven, and pour you out a Blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.”
Throughout the Bible the number “ten” pertains to the Lord’s Commandments. These contain all the Principles of His Righteousness. “Tithes”, or a “tenth”, describe our willing efforts to abide by each and every aspect of those Holy Principles in all that we think, feel and do. To do so is to “offer” the Lord the first fruits of our thoughts, affections and behaviors. These are most valuable things of all to Him, for with them we allow Him to fill our minds, hearts and souls with the Joy and Goodness of His Love for us, then overflowing with Goodwill towards all others.
Psalm 119, verse 144;
“The Righteousness of Thy Testimonies is everlasting: Give me understanding, and I shall Live.”
Matthew, Chapter 6, verses 19-21;
“ For where your treasure is, there will your heart will be also.”
“If I have told you about earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe if I tell you about Heavenly things? ”John 3:12
Howard Becker 